STaRR Training

With support from the Victorian Department of Health, Western Alliance are delighted to provide our centrepiece research capability building program, known as the STaRR (Supporting Translation of Research in Rural and Regional areas) Program.

The STaRR Program was informed by a comprehensive scoping exercise, which included a systematic scoping review of the research education literature and the Victorian Rural/Regional Research Training Needs Project.

The STaRR Program builds on the support from our Research Translation Coordinator positions and includes a range of translation-focussed research training activities and resources, as well as support for organisation research planning.

The STaRR training supports three key groups:

Emerging health practitioner researchers in health organisations across our region
Research mentors
Health organisation managers and leaders

Meet the STaRR Class of 2025!

Read more about STaRR below:

STaRR Emerging Researcher Training

STaRR training aims to provide health staff with the foundational research skills needed to develop a research translation-focused project (i.e., a project that will develop or use existing evidence to underpin change in practice or policy). STaRR participants will receive mentoring support and access to resources to assist them. We will pair STaRR participants with a research mentor prior to the workshops or they can nominate their own mentor.

There will be an opportunity for STaRR participants to apply for grant funding to progress their research idea or translate the findings into practice post completion of the training course.

Who can participate?

All staff working at Western Alliance member health organisations (Barwon Health, Colac Area Health, East Grampians Health Service, Grampians Health, Maryborough District Health Service, Portland District Health, South West Healthcare, Western District Health Service, Western Victoria PHN) are invited to apply for the STaRR program. We encourage those with limited or no prior research experience to apply.

Western Alliance covers the cost of the training program, so it is free to participate.

Workshops overview

STaRR training comprises three workshops facilitated via a mix of in-person and online sessions. Approximately 2-4 hours of project work is required each week for 10 weeks (approx.) between the first, second, and third workshops to develop a research protocol or proposal.

The workshops are scheduled to take place on the following dates in 2025:

Workshop 1: Wednesday 27 August, 9:30 – 3:30pm in Colac
Workshop 2: Monday 6 October, 9:00 – 3:30pm, online
Workshop 3: Thursday 30 October, 9:00 – 1:00pm, online

The workshops are underpinned by the principles of research translation and cover the following broad topics:

General introduction to research
Common data collection techniques
Developing a researchable question
Introduction to data analysis
Health service ethics and governance
Research dissemination and impact
Introduction to research methods Consumer and stakeholder engagement
Introduction to a research translation framework Working with your mentor

STaRR participants’ manager or team leader will be invited to specific parts of the workshops relevant to their role.

Expressions of Interest

Expressions of interest for the 2026 STaRR Training program will open in April 2026.

Please contact your local Research Translation Coordinator or Olivia King or Peter Kelly via starrsupport@deakin.edu.au for more information about the STaRR program.

Western Alliance is committed to building research and translation capability in Western Victoria. The Supporting Translation of Research in Rural and Regional settings (STaRR) Program is a multifaceted training program at the centre of Western Alliance’s research capability building strategy.

To support STaRR Emerging Researchers conduct translation-focused research, Western Alliance is offering the following funding opportunities in 2025:

STaRR Emerging Researcher Seed Grants of up to $5,000 available for past STaRR participants to conduct a research project to generate new evidence, and
Research Translation Fellowships (STaRRships) with funding of up to $15,000 available for past STaRR participants and past Western Alliance Emerging Researcher grant recipients, to translate research evidence into practice.

Guidelines

To be considered, applicants must work in a Western Alliance member health service or primary health network and must have participated in the STaRR Emerging Researcher training program. See more details about eligibility in the STaRR Emerging Researcher Seed Grants guidelines and the STaRRships guidelines documents.

Click here to read about the recipients of 2025 STaRR Emerging Researcher Grants

STaRRlite is:

A half-day online research workshop open to staff working at a Western Alliance member health organisation*
Designed for health practitioners (including clinicians, program staff & managers) with little or no previous research or quality improvement experience
Ideal for practitioners who want to gain foundational knowledge & skills to begin health research or quality improvement projects, or leaders who want to support their team member(s) to do so

Dates: Two STaRRlite workshops were held in early 2025. Keep an eye out for 2026 dates.

Cost: Free (Western Alliance covers the workshop costs)

More Info: Contact Olivia King or Peter Kelly via starrsupport@deakin.edu.au

*Barwon Health, Colac Area Health, East Grampians Health Service, Grampians Health, Maryborough District Health Service, Portland District Health, South West Healthcare, Western District Health Service, Western Victoria Primary Health Network

Supporting research and translating capacity and capability-building using evidence-informed approaches

STaRR is an evidence-informed research capability building program. We continue to explore the most effective ways to build research capacity and capability through our research.

You can read more about the evidence we have generated through developing, delivering and evaluating the STaRR Program by following links to our peer-reviewed research articles below.

King, O., West, E., Lee, S., Glenister, K., Quilliam, C., Wong Shee, A., & Beks, H. (2022). Research education and training for nurses and allied health professionals: a systematic scoping review. BMC Medical Education, 22(1), 385. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12909-022-03406-7
King, O. A., Sayner, A., Beauchamp, A., Hitch, D., Aras, D., & Shee, A. W. (2023). Translating research into rural health practice: a qualitative study of perceived capability-building needs. Rural and Remote Health, 23(4), 1-10. https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/informit.T2024042400006590952533059
King, O. A., Sayner, A. M., Beauchamp, A., West, E., Aras, D., Hitch, D., & Wong Shee, A. (2023). Research translation mentoring for emerging clinician researchers in rural and regional health settings: a qualitative study. BMC Medical Education, 23(1), 817. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12909-023-04786-0
King, O., West, E., Alston, L., Beks, H., Callisaya, M., Huggins, C. E., … & Wong Shee, A. (2024). Models and approaches for building knowledge translation capacity and capability in health services: a scoping review. Implementation Science, 19(1), 7. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13012-024-01336-0
Quilliam, C., Wong Shee, A., Corboy, D., Glenister, K., King, O., Mc Namara, K., … & McKinstry, C. (2023). Design and implementation characteristics of research training for rural health professionals: a qualitative descriptive study. BMC Medical Education, 23(1), 200. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12909-023-04169-5
Wong Shee, A., Quilliam, C., Corboy, D., Glenister, K., McKinstry, C., Beauchamp, A., … & Mc Namara, K. (2022). What shapes research and research capacity building in rural health services? Context matters. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 30(3), 410-421. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ajr.12852